I had the opportunity to go on this tour with my family beginning on October 10 and this is my feedback. I hope it helps. The tour takes you to Salzburg, Vienna & Prague.

[b]First the goods:[/b]
• I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of hotels that we were placed in. Staff was courteous (with the exception of one minor issue in Salzburg). . Rooms were bigger than I expected from Europe and the locations were great. Even-though in Prague we could be closer to downtown.
• The fact that six of the nine meals were included was really good and this relieved us from a lot of searching for a good restaurant.
• We got a group picture free of charge which was better than the last tour I was on. We ended paying for that group photo.
• Bus was clean, equipped and smooth riding. The driver knew what he was doing and he did his job safely and promptly.
• Tour guides seemed all knowledgeable on the topic and had good command of English language.
• First dinner in Salzburg which included a live concert was fabulous.[St. Peter’s Restaurant]
• First dinner in Vienna which was in an authentic Austrian restaurant was also good. [Marchfelderhof]
• Last concert in Vienna was great [Schoenbrunn Palace Orangery]
• Beer was great in all three locations

[b]Opportunity for improvement:[/b]
• First night dinner in Salzburg must be switched with last night dinner in Salzburg. Although the dinner/concert was fabulous, almost everybody was tired and had to drag himself/herself to enjoy it. This was the first day and everybody was tired due to long travel. The last night dinner was at the hotel and quality/quantity was OK (at best) and should have happened the first night which allowed for those who are tired to sleep early for the next day tours.
• When giving tours to 39 people, hearing the guide may be a problem. I think it is time that all tours started using the headphones. This was used in our previous tour in Rome and it worked beautifully.
• In Salzburg, we noticed that our tour guide explained some pointers on several topics, but did not go through the place. For example, he explained about the Mozart’s birth-place and he handed us the entrance ticket to venture on our own. While inside, I noticed that some other tour guides have taken the trouble to come in and explain further pointers to their passengers.
• The famous castle on the mountain in Salzburg (forgot the name) was worth seeing and I wish we had the tour guide with us to explain more about it. Unfortunately, the whole visit was deemed as optional. In my opinion the castle should be included in the tour and guide must come up the mountain for providing information on it.
• Thank goodness for the standard included meals on the tour as the options on this tour were bad. We took the “Sound of Musicâ€

Did you stay at the Vienna Hilton at Stadt Park?

We stayed at "Hotel De France". .
Location was central and rooms were large, a bit old, but large.

Were the pickpockets bad in Prague?

In many locations all over Europe the guides with the tours are not permitted to enter the attractions. This territory belongs strictly to the local guides.Your TD was not neglecting you but rather just obeying the local laws. In most of the attractions if you don't want to hook up with the local guide inside the attraction you should be able to rent the headphones for a couple of euros which enables you to do a selfguided tour.

We did not have any bad experience with pickpockets in Prague. But one of our tour-mates in Rome (previous tour) was the victim. They took her passport, money, etc. It is important that you keep a copy of these documents. These days you can scan your documents and keep them on one of those tiny memory cards. In case of emergency, you can always refer to your embassy for replacement of stolen documents.

In each city, we had the local tour. It is just that the tour did not include that potion(castle). . It should have.